Persona 4: Spiral Days
by Nintendoga
Summary: Adachi is a good-hearted honest detective. A series of events starts off the good detective on his own Journey through Inaba. Around the same time Yu Narukami comes to town to live with his uncle, Dojima. However, something's wrong. What façade is Yu hiding from everyone? Original P4 story following Adachi with a personality twist. But is there more to it than that? Spiral Days.
1. The New World's Fool

Persona 4: Spiral Days  
_**Author's Note: Credit for Story idea, Plot elements, and many other things goes to fanfic author, EternalCombOver. I'm just some guy who wrote stuff based off his ideas, adding in a few new twists of my own. Check out his fanfic. It's pretty good. R&amp;R. Criticism, Praise, and other Comments are always welcome.**_

**Chapter 1: The New World's Fool**

**Adachi you fool...Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.**  
**Yu...Those who do not remember their past are condemned to repeat their mistakes.**  
**Adachi you fool...Those who do not read history are doomed to repeat it.**  
**Yu...Those who fail to learn from the mistakes of their predecessors are destined to repeat them.**  
**Adachi you fool...Those who do not know history's mistakes are doomed to repeat them.**

_** ~Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.~**_

_**"****You Fool..."**_

**"Train D5 from Takanumi City is now arriving. Train D5 from Takanumi City is now arriving."**

"I-I'm sorry sir, what was that?" The young black haired detective pressed his finger to one ear while pushing his cellphone closers upon the other. The PA announcement on the other side of the conversation blocked out what his partner had just said.

He could hear the groaning coming through on the other end of the phone. By this point he could even imagine the face that went along with it.

"I said, I'm gonna be a little late for the meeting today!" The man said in a louder tone. The young man could tell he was getting agitated, as usual. He paused as a loud beeping noise emitted through the phone.

"Damn thing, must've set it an hour late..." The irritated man mumbled to himself

"Daddy! Let's go!" A young voice cried out in the background.

"I-In a minute Nanako!" The gruff voice continued his conversation. "Adachi, I need you to pick up the file from my house and give it to the Chief. It's the folder on the counter soon as you walk in. There's a spare key in one of the pots in the garden next to my house. You got that?"

"Yes sir. I'm heading over there right now."

"Good. Thanks Adachi."

**CLICK**

Adachi put his cell phone away in his jacket pocket. _"Delivery duty. What has my career come to..."_ he thought to himself while chuckling. He began his trek through the north shopping center to the Dojima Household.

Dojima...his current partner in the police force. Current being the keyword. Adachi was transferred from another precinct in the city a few months ago. Rumor is he messed up big time on a local case and the higher ups immediately sent him as far away as possible. The first few weeks were grueling to say the least. He was the subject of most lunchtime conversations, gossip, and rumors. Needless to say Adachi was the main target for many harmless pranks. Being the most popular guy wasn't easy.

But it was only that, just jokes and pranks. He knew nobody there actually disliked him. The guys at the precinct were all good at heart. Most of them just had it in the wrong place at times...but not Dojima-san. He was different.

Adachi stopped focusing on his thoughts and looked up at the house in front of him. A quick glance towards the broken down motorcycle parked next to the curb confirms it. The Dojima Residence.

"Now then..." Adachi walked over to the side of the household, "Where did he put that key?"

He mentioned a pot but...there were multiple pots. Some stacked up neatly on a shelf, others fallen over or cracked on the ground. The whole "garden" looked like a mess to be honest. Almost as if it hadn't been touched in years.

The next few minutes consisted of looking into each empty plant pot, while picking up some of the fallen ones and collecting the broken ones in a pile to make it easier for Dojima to throw away later. It didn't take long before Adachi finally found a small rusty key laying inside a fallen over pot.

"There we go." Adachi looked back at his work proudly, _"I'd make a damn fine gardener."_ he thought to himself as he dusted some dirt off his clothes. He made his way to the front door of the residence, having a little trouble jimmying the lock of the door with the old key.

"Ngh...almost...got it!" Adachi boasted as the door began to finally open. He peeked inside the empty house, slowly stepping in and closing the door behind. He made his way inside the den room, not bothering to take off his shoes. He was only gonna be in here for a few seconds. Not that Dojima would probably mind. He was allowed to keep his shoes on the couple of times he had come here before.

Low and behold, on the kitchen counter next to a couple of magazines and a bookbag was the folder Dojima was talking about. Adachi picked it up and quickly opened it up, glancing at the contents.

Statistics. Officer Evaluations. And Crime Reports. It wasn't terribly interesting, at least not to Adachi. He closed the file, noticing a sticky note attached to the back of the folder. He plucked it off with ease and glanced at the note.

"Pick up Groceries, Make sure Nanako did the laundry," Adachi slowly read the words before looking at a sentence circled in red ink "PICK UP YU, 4PM. DO NOT FORGET."

Yu? That name oddly felt...familiar. Didn't Dojima say something about him the other day at lunch? Adachi shook his head as he tried to remember, deciding that it wasn't any of his business. He put down the sticky note and walked towards the front door, tossing the spare key onto the counter as he left the Dojima residence. Looking at his watch, Adachi began towards the bus stop. A quick ride to the office should only take about 20 or so minutes.

After spending a few minutes playing with his phone, the next bus finally arrived at the stop. As the doors opened and Adachi tried to get on, a figure quickly stepped off the bus before him in a rush. A teenaged girl at least 16 years old, Adachi figured. But what caught his attention was the nice kimono the girl was wearing. _"Not an outfit you'd regularly wear outside of holidays."_ he mentally noted

"Yes mother, I'm picking up the supplies from the textile shop right n- Oh!" The girl almost bumped into Adachi, both characters side-stepping each other to avoid a minor accident.

"S-Sorry." The girl blushed as she looked at Adachi. "Huh? N-No, I was talking to someone else." The girl quickly walked away from Adachi while continuing on with her conversation.

_"For a small town there sure are alot of oddballs in it."_ Adachi thought to himself as he stepped onto the bus. He used his bus card while the driver looked at him.

"Where ya headin?"

"Inaba Police Precinct please." The driver nodded as he closed the bus doors. Adachi looked onto the bus. Thankfully it wasn't very crowded at this time of the day. Only a few women and children sitting near the front. Adachi made his way to the middle of the bus, sitting down in an open seat next to the window as the bus began to move.

_"Maybe tonight I'll rent a movie and call it a day..."_ Adachi thought to himself. He leaned his head onto the window, feeling very tired suddenly. It had been a particularly uninteresting day on the force, but Adachi barely got any sleep the previous night before. Maybe he could take a quick nap before he got there.

_"Have some nice ramen to go with it...maybe get a bottle from the liquor store..."_

Adachi began to feel very woozy, his eyelids loosing strength as they drooped lower and lower. His grip on the folder loosened a bit as his mind became at ease. Drifting...further...into a deep...deep...sleep.

Adachi jolted up in his seat. He rubbed his eyes and stretched while yawning. "Must've have fallen...a-asleep!?" Adachi's words hung in the air as he looked around at his new surroundings. The other people on the bus had vanished. The grayish color of the bus had been replaced with dazzling blue, shining throughout the bus. Looking out of the windows, he felt a shock run down his spine when he couldn't see the roads anymore. Everything was covered in a fog like state. He looked towards the bus driver, seeing an odd looking man glaring at him through the mirror.

"It would appear that our guest is awake." Adachi turned his attention behind the driver's deat. A lady stood up and held onto the bus pole to keep herself steady. Her white hair and blue clothes glistened as she stared at Adachi with an expressionless face.

"About time..." Adachi looked over to the right of the girl to see another female sitting down away from him. All he could make out was the blue hat she had on with black hair poking out from underneath. _"Where the hell did they come from?"_ Adachi thought to himself, _"What happened to everyone else? Why can I see outside the bus? Where are we going!?"_

A million questions surged through his mind as Adachi stood up and yelled at the two ladies and driver for some answers.

"W-What the hell is going on here!?" His voice shakened as he demanded an answer. He caught the bus driver squinting his eyes at him, before making a devilish grin. The bus' brakes screeched as the entire vehicle began to slow down. Adachi almost lost his footing and grabbed onto the seat, his gaze never leaving the people in front of him.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, it appears we will be making an unscheduled stop..." The driver spoke into the intercom. Afterwards he pierced his eyes back at Adachi through the bus mirror.

"My apologies Tohru Adachi. I would have liked to assign you to a more stationary environment, but this will have to do for now."

Adachi shivered when he spoke. His voice sounded so calm and allusive. Almost nothing like the previous driver. _"And how the hell did he know who I am?"_ he wondered.

"Welcome...to the Velvet Room." The driver grinned ear to ear "My name is Igor. These are my lovely two assistants." Igor turned his head to the side as if awaiting a response. Adachi's eyes widened once his man's nose came into view. It was at least, a foot long. Incredibly creepy, and very big. He wasn't sure how to handle this situation. A kidnapping? It was a possibility, but he didn't have his gun on him right now. And the sight of that man's nose put some fear into Adachi. He had no choice but to wait and let things play out.

"Ahem!" Igor cleared out his throat. The woman staring at Adachi cleared her throat in response.

"Greetings. My name is Margaret. It is a pleasure Adachi-san. This girl over here is..." The woman smiled and looked over at the other girl. Adachi tensed up as the other girl ignored her. There was clearly some sort of animosity here. Margaret's smile faded once she realized how difficult the girl would be.

"Marie..." Margaret began. Marie shot her head at Margaret, frowning. Then she turned her body in the seat and looked towards Adachi. Her blue eyes radiated with anger as she glared at Adachi. Whoever SHE was, _"clearly doesn't like me..."_ Adachi noted in his thoughts.

"What's the point?" Marie had yelled out to Igor "We've done this hundreds of times already, it's not like he going to remember it next tim-"

"Marie!" Margaret snapped her voice at her. Marie shivered at her voice. She pouted at the two other people in the bus, soon turning her head to Adachi-san and whispering "I'm Marie. Glad to be HERE." She stated, putting some hatred behind her last word. Margaret shook her head in disbelief.

Adachi was about to speak up, and almost on que Igor began to talk once more.

"Do not be alarmed, we are not your enemy. We are only here..to help." Adachi felt even more confused. Igor sensed this and continued on,

"Everything will be clear to you very soon. All you must know is, that you have been brought here for a reason." Margaret spoke up after this,

"You need not worry, we have already made the preparations. Your signature will be needed on the dotted line of the contract." Margaret held out a small contract, pointing directly to the dotted line on the bottom of the paper. "Any questions?"

_"...Any!? Hell yeah I have some questions!"_

"First off, I'm not signing anything until you tell me-"

"Ah!" Igor interrupted, "But you HAVE already signed it." Igor smiled as the contract appeared in his hand, Adachi's signature clearly signed on the bottom. Adachi looked at it in confusion, until he felt something in his right hand. He looked down and saw a pen.

"W-What the!?" Adachi dropped the pen on the ground and looked back to the trio of creeps. Who the hell were they?

"Your journey starts now Tohru Adachi. Please do not disappoint us..." Igor stated as he turned back to the front. The bus began to shake as it slowly moved once more. Margaret smiled softly,

"We look forward to it." She laughed calmly. Marie shot a look of disbelief in her direction before looking back at Adachi once more. She calmed down as she looked at Adachi, her eyes no longer filled with anger, but sadness.

"Inaba Police Precinct!" The bus driver yelled to Adachi. He jolted up from his sleep, looking at himself and outside the window. He could see the town clearly now, along with a few passersbys walking around the area.

"Hey buddy!" Adachi turned back to the driver "You gettin off here or what?"

The driver was now the same one who was originally driving the bus. Taking a quick glance around the bus he saw that he was the only person left.

"U-Um. Sorry, what did you say?" Adachi stammered to the driver. The driver pointed his thumb to the door

"You gettin OUT or what pal?" The driver spoke with an annoyed attitude. Adachi unconsciously clenched his right hand and felt the folder in his grip. He suddenly remembered what he was doing before he fell asleep.

"Yeah, sorry." Adachi slowly stood up, collecting his senses as he made his way off the bus. The door slammed behind him, the bus driving away as Adachi stood there in confusion.

"Was that really just a dream?" It had felt so real, and he could remember everything so vividly. Igor's grin, Margaret's smile, and Marie's look of sadness as he woke up. It was odd. He felt like he knew these people from somewhere. But isn't that what usually happens in dreams? They take people you've only seen once or twice in your life and make them characters in your dreams.

At least, that's what Adachi had read off that internet site that one time.

**BEEP BEEP**

Adachi reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. Ryatoro Dojima was on the screen. He quickly answered it.

"Hello?"

"Adachi...did you deliver the file yet?" Dojima asked with a grim tone.

"I'm walking into the station right now Dojima-san." Adachi replied.

"When you were here earlier...did you forget to take off your shoes inside the house?" Dojima asked sternly. Adachi was confused, he didn't forget to take them off, but figured it was okay.

"U-Um...yeah sir? Why?" He didn't like where this was going...

"Mud tracks." Those two words caused Adachi to freeze in place. While he was cleaning the garden earlier! He must've gotten mud on his shoes while stepping in the dirt. And he didn't take them off when he- !

"S-Sir! I-"

"All. Over. My. Floor." Dojima's voice slowly rose

"I-I didn't mean to, I mean," Adachi stammered in fear. Crap. It was an honest mistake! Honest!

"You better pray something comes up tomorrow, or you'll be scrubbing these floors ALL DAY! GOT IT!?" Dojima yelled into the phone. Adachi flinched in both fear and amazement. It was almost as if he was yelling at him in person. Dojima-san never ceased to amaze him. Or frighten him.

"Y-Yes sir..." Adachi whispered. Once he heard the click on the other end of the line, he hung up his phone. Poor Adachi made his way towards the station, sulking all the way there.

"Could've at least thanked me for the garden..." Adachi mumbled to himself.

The rest of Adachi's day was particularly uneventful. He delivered the files to the Chief, clocked out early, grabbed a cheap DVD and some ramen from a quickie mart nearby while making his way home. Unfortunately, the liquor store was closed.

"Damn."

The movie was interesting to say the least. He didn't really pay that much attention to it. Something about a Samurai superhero and some villains or something. His mind kept wandering back to that dream he had earlier. It was odd because even hours later, he could still remember every single moment from it. That driver and those two girls. Something about them just bothered him.

He glanced at the clock while turning off the TV. 11:58pm.

"Time to hit the hay." Adachi whispered to himself as he cleaned up his place real quick. If he didn't get some shut eye quickly he'd be tired as hell tomorrow morning. And after his conversation with Dojima from earlier, he'd need all the energy he get for tomorrow. Adachi threw away his Ramen cup and turned off the lights in his apartment. Making his way to his futon.

Not even bothering to pull the sheets up on his body, he closed his eyes and laid out on the futon, drifting away into another deep sleep.


	2. The Almighty Burden

Persona 4: Spiral Days

**Chapter 2: The Almighty Burden**

"N-No! Please! Stay away or I'll scream!"

_?_

Adachi looked around and saw that he was no longer in his tiny apartment. Far from it. He was in a large, quite luxurious lobby. A hotel lobby? No, he had been here a few times before. "The Ama...something Inn right?" Everything around him was shrouded in fog. The reception area, the stairs leading to other floors, nothing. It reminded him of that other dream he had the day before. He could barely make out the couch and coffee-table in front of him. It was...strange. He knew he was dreaming, but he also felt like he had been here before.

_..._

_"Well duh."_ Of course he had been here before. He and Dojima escorted a petty robber out of this Inn a few weeks ago. But something was different this time. Almost as if-

"Get away!" Adachi felt his body turn around, looking on to the scene before him. A woman was cowering in fear as another man slowly crept up onto her.

"Oh? Well then..." The man looked up behind her, noticing the plasma screen TV on the stand. Adachi felt a shiver run through his body, this was nothing like the dream he had before.

"Let's have a little FUN!" Adachi opened his jaw in shock as the man grabbed the woman by the head, pushing her towards the TV with miraculous strength. The whole scene played out as if it were in slow motion. Almost like a scene from a movie. Adachi tried to run forward and attack the man, but his body refused. This was becoming a nightmare.

"No! S-STOP! AH-" The woman's screams were silenced as her entire body along with the man's arm pushed deep inside the TV.

_"W-What the!?"_ His entire arm just went inside? _"T-The woman too! S-She's..."_

The man jumped back in awe, looking at his now empty handed arm. The ripples on the screen of the television soon vanished. He stood there looking at his own reflection in the screen...

"AHAHA! HAHAHAHA!" The mad man burst into a cackling fit, hunching over while holding his stomach.

"S-She actually went in!" Both the man and Adachi shouted out at the same time. The man shot up straight when he heard another voice. He looked back towards Adachi, scowling out at the visitor.

"Who's there!?" Adachi gasped when he got a good look at the man's face. Black hair...tired eyes...i-it was...himself...

Adachi tried to move away in fear but his body wouldn't let him. This nightmare felt too real. Emotions surged through himself, he never felt so confused in his entire life. But the look in the man's eyes scared him the most. They were empty. Lifeless.

The Adachi look-alike smirked, and it was only then Adachi realized he didn't see him, but someone else in the room.

"Oh...it's you..." The imposter smiled devilishly behind Adachi. Adachi himself tried to turn his body around, but a bright flash of white surrounded his vision. Adachi let out a scream of pain as images began to play out in his mind. People he had never seen before, things he himself had never done. They played in rapid succession while voices rung loudly in his head.

_ "How many times has it been Adachi? I've lost count..."_

_"T-This doesn't make any sense. I can't believe this..."_

_"You don't have to do this alone. We're in this together."_

_"Everything I've done! Everything! No matter what I change! It always leads back to us!"_

_"Adachi...do you still love me?"_

"GAH!" Adachi bolted up in his futon, sweating profusely. His sheets were dampened in his sweat. He breathed heavily for a few moments, trying to collect his bearings. He looked around the room, seeing his familiar room.

_"It..it was...only a dream..." _Adachi wiped his forehead. He could still feel his heart beating like crazy. What the hell was all that about?

"That's right Shizuka! This custom made set of kitchen knives can be yours for the low price of-"

"YOU WILL NEVER DEFEAT ME EVIL VILLAIN! I AM THE STEEL SAMURA-"

Adachi laid out on his couch, the rays of sunlight peeking in from behind the curtains in the living room. He quietly ate a candy bar in the dark, flipping through the channels on his television. That dream he had...whatever it was, thankfully he had forgotten most of it after waking up. Unable to go back to sleep, he spent the next few hours on his sofa watching tv.

He stole a quick glance over at the alarm clock, only 8:30am. He still had a good hour and a half before he had to clock in today. _"I'll get ready in a few minutes..."_ he thought to himself as he took another bite out of the bar.

"Now don't forget to set the time for forty two -"

"Ever since 2009, unemployment rates have been decre-"

"-had been murdered late last night near the shoppi-"

"Alright boys and girls, it's tim-"

_"Huh?"_ Adachi quickly flipped the channel back one after hearing something about a murder. On the news channel was a young woman and older man talking to each other while a picture of Inaba's shopping center rested firmly in the middle of the screen.

"Truly tragic Kio." The woman shuffled her papers while looking at the teleprompter behind the camera.

"It sure is Tiaka." The man smiled cheerfully at the camera, maintaining his spiffyness.

"Hmm, Mayumi Yamano has been quite the center of attention lately after a recent scandal involving the political secretary,Taro Namatame, was revealed to the public." A picture of Ms Yamano and Namatame appeared on the screen. Adachi did a double take at Mayumi's photo.

_"That woman..."_ Adachi had seen her a few days ago. In the detention center at the station. He had only caught the gist of it from another officer, but apparently Ms Yamano had been involved in a "celebrity" scandal of sorts. Requesting privacy and protection, she had gone to the Inaba Station for help and spent the night there in secret. Originally a select number of officers were going to be chosen to watch over her, Adachi included. But eventually the higher ups decided to assign a rookie to her, not wanting to waste too much manpower over something so trivial.

_"But how did she die?"_

"While nothing is concrete yet, reports say the Inaba police already have a suspect in questioning. This tragic piece of news has rocked the small peaceful town of Inaba to a certain degree."

"Indeed Tiaka. We can only hope that the criminal is caught and brought to justice soon!" The man, Kio, continued to smile. Even while presenting horrific news, it was their job to stay in high spirits. Or was it because they actually didn't care? Adachi wasn't sure.

"In other news a local group of bikers hav-" Adachi felt a bolt run through his brain as he sat up straight. If there was a murder in Inaba, the police would have to handle it. He was an officer of the law. Why hasn't anyone called him about this yet?

Adachi reached for his cell phone and silently cursed when his suspicions were confirmed. He must have set it to silent last night. Dojima had been trying to reach him for the past hour.

"Shit!" Adachi jumped off his couch and scrambled to the bathroom. He spent no more than 5 minutes hopping into the shower while brushing his teeth. While fixing his tie and belt, he glanced over to the mirror. He looked like someone who had just gotten out of a fight. His appearance was bad, but it would be nothing compared to Dojima-san's mood if he made him wait any long-

"Aw shit!" Adachi cursed to himself again while grabbing his badge, keys, and phone. He quickly rushed out of his apartment while dialing up Dojima's number. As expected, as soon as the call connected...

"ADACHI! WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN!?"

_"Ow."_ Dojima's voice rung through his ears. He couldn't say he wasn't expecting that.

"Sorry sir. I was busy. I'm heading over to the station right now!"

"You better haul yourself over here as fast as you can Adachi, or it'll be your ass!"

**CLICK**

"Not even 24 hours and already two strikes against me..." Adachi pouted to himself, rushing to the nearest bus stop.

The bus ride had been fairly uneventful, as was the stroll to the station. However once arriving at the station, Adachi saw countless film crew and media reporters hustled outside the Precinct. Right on que Dojima stepped out of the station, ignoring the barrage of reports and cameras flashing in his face.

"Is it true that someone was murdered right here in Inaba!?"

"Do the police have any leads!?"

"Any comments officer!?"

Dojima grunted as he stepped past each and every one of them, ignoring their pestering. Adachi figured stuff like this was normal for someone who had been on the force for as long as him...

"Adachi!" Adachi looked up to see Dojima walking towards him with his usual glare. He mentally prepared himself for another shouting session with good ol' Dojima-san. However the older man continued past him, to behind the station itself.

"Get a move on, we're taking a squad car to the crime scene." Dojima rested his coat above his shoulders, taking out the keys.

"O-Oh..." Adachi followed his pace while feeling relieved.

_"Well at least he's not mad."_

"Don't think you're off the hook either Adachi," Dojima called out "We'll talk about this later."

_"C-Crap..." _

To say the car ride was awkward, is an understatement. Dojima was never a conversationalist, and Adachi was just bad at small talk in general. During most cases Dojima would question witnesses or gather information from the victims, while Adachi quietly stayed in the background, noting down everything he deemed important. Afterwards they would discuss their opinions on the case, who'd done it, what'd happened, same old same old.

But today...felt different. Something else was on Dojima's mind today. Whether or not it had to do with the crime, Adachi was unsure. But still, neither detective could ignore the uncomfortable atmosphere present.

"Well...here goes."

"So uh, sir." Adachi scratched his face while struggling to think of a topic "How...was your day yesterday?"

"..." Dojima remained silent, focusing on the road in front of him as they drove past Samegawa River.

"Adachi..." Adachi snapped his head over in Dojima's direction. He noted the tone in his voice sounded grim.

"About a few days ago we assigned Officer Juio to watch over Ms Yamano,"

"The rookie?" Adachi struggled to remember his face. He only saw him maybe a few times when clocking out. Dojima spared a couple of glances at Adachi as he continued

"Yeah, that's the one. Five hours ago we sent in another officer to trade shifts with him. Apparently Yamano didn't feel safe with a newbie watching over her."

_"Jeeze...it's not like you get special service with this stuff lady"_ Adachi thought to himself.

"When he got to the Inn, he saw Officer Juio sitting in the driver's seat of his squad car. Dead."

Adachi felt a sick feeling in his stomach. Did he just hear him right? Two people were killed last night!?

"Mayumi Yamano was also missing from her room. We sent out a search party to look for her... but it wasn't until we got a call in from a civilian that we found her body."

Dojima ruffled through his hair as he signed. He looked very tired, of course all things considered.

"We were hoping to keep this case under wraps and deal with it quietly, but seeing how Yamano's body was found before us..." Dojima paused and looked over at Adachi quickly

"Keep Juio's death under wraps. It's bad enough they already know about Yamano, but if the media found out about this as well, there'd be hell in town.." Dojima grimaced his face.

"B-But sir, I thought we already had a suspect in custody?" Adachi recalled the news reporter mentioning something along those lines.

"We did. Taro Namatame, Mayumi Yamano's lover. After their affair went public, his career and marriage went down the drain. As far as we're concerned, he had the perfect motive. But he also has a rock solid alibi. He was at his office all night. Security Cameras confirmed it. Right now all we can do is question him for any information concerning Yamano."

"So we don't have any leads?"

"None."

The rest of the car ride was spent in silence. Dojima had filled Adachi in on what he knew, he felt there was no need to talk about anything else. Adachi kept his mouth shut as well. He was still feeling a bit ehausted from that dream he had last night.

Soon enough the two detectives arrived at the crime scene near the Inaba Shopping Center. Police tape was all over the place. A couple of officers and reporters were crowding the area, while bystanders tried to look on to see if what they heard was true. Was Mayumi Yamano really murdered? Here, in the peaceful quiet town of Inaba?

"Remember what I said Adachi," Dojima took out the keys and opened his door as did Adachi. Both the detectives were immediately swarmed by several reporters.

The next few hours were very taxing on the two detectives. Dojima talked with the other officers at the scene, trying to figure out the cause of death while investigating the area for evidence. Adachi on the other hand, was assigned crowd control. Trying to shoo away bystanders while stammering at any questions he was asked by the media. Truth be told he wasn't a very good liar, at least when in the presence of a crowd. But he could dodge a question like there was no tomorrow.

"Detective! Who killed Mayumi Yamano!?"

"U-Uh? We're investigating that right now..."

"But I thought the police already had the criminal in custody!?"

"No, that was just a um, suspect."

"Are you saying the murderer is still out there planning his next victim!?"

"T-The police are looking into this as quickly as they can. Please, no further questions!"

_"Oh thank god, finally..." _Adachi thought to himself as he finally managed to persuade the last bystander to move along. He had spent all god damn day doing the same thing. "Move along!" and "No further questions!" were phrases permanently stitched into his vocabulary by this point. But he guessed that even something like this would spark excitement and curiosity in a small town like this. He looked at his watch to check the time, already in the afternoon. At the end of his shift, all he wanted to do was go lie down and sleep this off.

"Good work Adachi." Dojima walked up to Adachi, lighting up a cigarette. Adachi never cared about smoking, but he sure wouldn't mind a shot of liqour right about now.

"Do you know what happened sir?" Adachi finally asked the question that had been burning in his mind while occasionally glancing over at Dojima and the other officers earlier.

"She didn't have any stab marks or gunshot wounds. Not even a single bruise." Dojima pointed his finger up to the top of the building in front of them.

"Her corpse was left up there. Right on that antennae." Adachi looked at the slightly crooked tv antennae up on the roof.

"Wow..." Carrying the body all the way up there unnoticed. Whoever he was, he knew how to do his job right.

"They're about to move the body to the morgue" Dojima nodded his head to the alleyway in between two buildings. "Some poor high-school girl saw the body this morning on her way to school. Said she was hysterical while she called the cops." Dojima lowered his head and frowned. Adachi tried to imagine the shock of finding a dead body in your every day routine. Especially a teenager. He felt a little sympathy for her.

"We're going to try questioning her tomorrow after she's calmed down. But for now," Dojima rubbed the back of his neck, clearly stressed out about the situation. "Not a single god damn lead."

Adachi looked over at the crime scene. He was as dumbfounded as everyone else. He figured he might as well catch a peek of the body before they basically dissect her at the morgue.

"I'll be right back sir." Adachi excused himself over to where most other officers were standing. He squeezed his way past most of them, seeing a figure lying on the ground covered by a white sheet. No matter how many times he had seen this scene before him, he always felt uneasy around the presence of a dead body. He got down on one knee and pulled back the white sheet.

The look on Yamano's face made him shiver. It looked so unnatural, almost as if she was scared to death by some ungodly thing.

"Pretty gruesome huh?" An officer looked down at Adachi checking out the body.

"Y-Yeah..." Adachi pulled the sheet back over her face. He didn't feel like finding out what the rest of the body looked like.

"Man lemme tell you Adachi," Another officer had butt into the conversation "Outta all my years on the force, I ain't ever seen any shit like this..."

"Tell me about it..." The other officer remarked.

"Was there anything else found at the crime scene?" Adachi asked both officers. One of them shook their heads

"Nothing. We searched high and low, but we couldn't find a thing."

"Alright, now that's definitely weird." Adachi noted to himself. He excused himself from the conversation, heading back over to Dojima.

"Hey, what are you doing here!?" Adachi saw Dojima shouting at three teens who were walking past the crime scene. A silver haired boy, a brunette in green, and some black haired girl in red. Judging by the boy's uniform, they all went to that high school near here, Yasogami.

"That one girl..." Adachi looked at the red girl's face. There was something about her. Didn't he see her somewhere befor-

"H-Huh!?" Adachi lost his train of thought as he felt something stirring up in his stomach. He placed both hands on his stomach, feeling butterflies inside. "Ohhh..." He felt sick. Very sick. Something was wrong. His body suddenly flustered up, feeling extremely hot.

Then he remembered.

That dream he had last night. That woman's screams as she was killed. That blood-curdling scream. It was horrifying. Each time he thought about it, an image of Mayumi Yamano's dead face appeared in his mind. "Oh GOD!" Adachi covered his mouth with a hand, and quickly started running away from the scene.

"A-Adachi?" Dojima was surprised to see Adachi running through him and the other kids, desperately trying to find a place to...to...

"B-BLERGH!" Adachi heaved into a trashcan across the building. He slouched over the can, his face inside while spitting out any vomit left in his mouth. At this point most of the officers near the entrance were already crying with laughter.

"ADACHI! What are you, a rookie!? You act like you've never seen a dead body before!" Adachi could hear Dojima's shouts over the howling officers. He lifted his head out of the trash can so that Dojima could hear his response.

"S-Sorry sir..."

Embarrassment and all its synonyms combined would not be able to describe the humility Adachi felt. He and Dojima left the crime scene soon afterwards. After they did their usual routine of discussing the case and possible suspects, silence once again filled the car, both men out of topics to discuss. Adachi fumbled with his phone, until he remembered a question.

"Oh yeah um sir?"

"Yeah?"

"Who were those kids you were talking to earlier? It kinda looked like you knew them..." Dojima raised an eyebrow at his question.

"I don't know the green girl, but the one in red is Yukiko Amagi."

"Yukiko Amagi?" Adachi registered that name in his mind, until a lightbulb went off in his head "W-Wait, is she related to the-"

"Yep. She's the daughter of the owner of the Amagi Inn. It's been a family tradition passed for generations I heard."

"Wow..." This girl wasn't even out of school and already set for life. _"Damn lucky..."_ he thought to himself "H-Hey uh, what about the other one? The guy?"

Dojima sighed in heavily before answering, "His name is Yu Narukami. He just transferred here from Takanumi city."

Adachi thought back to the previous day, that note he saw in Dojima's kitchen. Yu? Was this the same guy from the note?

"He's...also my nephew."

"W-What!?" Adachi widened his eyes, shocked at the revelation.

"His parents are overseas for the next year. He's gonna be living with me until they come back." Dojima frowned slightly. Adachi only muttered a "Wow." in amazement. Raising a kid was hard enough, but taking in a teenager too? Adachi now knew why Dojima looked so on edge earlier..

_"Pick up Yu at 4pm..."_ Adachi thought back to the note. Was this why he had Adachi pick up that file that day?

_"Aw crap..."_ He then remembered the mud tracks he left on the floor. Yu's first impression of the Dojima Residence must not have been a good one. Hell, Dojima had every right to be pissed.

The two finally arrived back at the station. Things had quieted down since this morning. As Dojima took out the keys and got out of the car, he yelled out "Here!" and threw the keys to Adachi.

"Since you pulled that little stunt earlier, you get to fill up the car. With YOUR money." Dojima smirked as he began to walk away.

"B-But sir, I-"

"Mud. Tracks."

Adachi shut up at the mention of that. He knew he had lost. He got inside the driver's seat, starting up the car and driving a few blocks down to the closest gas station.

Pulling up to Moel Gas Station, Adachi got out of the car and looked around, waiting until an attendant finally came running over to the car.

"Good afternoon sir!" The attendant stood tall and proud in his- er her, uniform. Actually Adachi couldn't tell if this was a he or she. One of those androgynous types he figured.

"Hey. Could you fill her up?" Adachi asked while taking out his credit card._ "Looks like I'm gonna have to skip the booze tonight"_ he quietly sulked.

"Right away sir!" The attendant's perkiness was unnatural, but whatever. Adachi slouched on the car, looking around at the people walking around on the streets. He almost wished he was a smoker just so he could have something to do. Or at least calm his nerves down. He began to wonder how much they were at the gas station, until he noticed the attendant staring at him intently with a smirk while filling up the car.

"You're not from around here are you sir?"

"Huh?" He always hated it when random strangers tried to do small talk with him.

"I mean I've never seen you around these parts before." This he-shemale whatever was making Adachi uncomfortable. Something about the way they looked at him. It felt weird.

"Uh...no. I'm actually a detective, I transferred here a couple of months ago." Adachi began to speak while the attendant took out the gas pump and put it away. "I don't usually drive so that's probably why..." Adachi finished. The attendant closed the fuel tank and gave Adachi back his card.

"All done sir! And if I may, I know it's a little late but," The attendant reached out their hand towards Adachi "I'd personally like to welcome you to Inaba."

Adachi raised an eyebrow. Was this kid expecting a tip or something for being friendly? He looked at their face, a smile plastered across while holding out his hand. Figuring it'd be rude, Adachi reached out his hand as well, both of them shaking each other's hand. Another car began to pull into the Moel Station.

"Have a good day sir!" The attendant yelled out while rushing over to the next customer. Adachi shook his head as he got back in the car.

"I swear, I'm the only normal person in this town."

Back at the station, everyone spent most of the day looking further into the double homicide. Other minor cases were put on hold as it became top priority. However, with no leads or anywhere to start, Dojima and Adachi decided to call it a day early into the night.

Picking up some more Ramen and a soda, Adachi made his way back to his tiny apartment centered near the middle of Inaba. After everything happened today, he just wanted to eat some grub and maybe a quick show or two before going to bed.

Not even 5 seconds within the door, Adachi felt his body grow weak. His legs began to wobble as he put the Ramen and drink on the coffee table. He plopped down on his sofa, stretching while sitting in the darkness. Something felt wrong. He couldn't lift his arms up that high, or get off the sofa to go to his futon.  
He didn't even feel like reaching for the tv remote.

No wait, that's normal...

Nonetheless, Adachi let out a quiet yawn as he closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep.

Once again Adachi found himself in an odd dream. He was standing in a place he didn't recognize. Thunder roared through the bleak red sky. Buildings crumbled all around him with police tape marked all over the streets.

**"It is time for you to awaken once more, Tohru Adachi." **

Adachi looked up towards the sky. He heard a voice roar out from up there. Where was it? What was it?

**"Take my power and receive my knowledge in battle. It is of the utmost importance." **

Adachi suddenly felt something grab his legs, he looked down to see shadowy figures slowly crawling up his body. He tried to kick them away, but they wouldn't let go. He screamed out for help, his voice reduced to a low mute.

**"You have rejected me and accepted me many times before. How you use my power is for you to decide alone."** The voice boomed out. The shadows grabbed onto parts of Adachi's body and began to pierce into it. Tears rolled down his face from the stinging pain. Energy from his body slowly faded away as the shadows dug deeper into Adachi.

**"However know this, as before, the choices you make will determine your fate once again." **

_"W-What the hell is this thing talking about!? H-HELP!" _

**"Now go forth Tohru Adachi. Your journey has begun once more..." **

The shadowy creatures finally covered Adachi's face, his vision becoming shrouded in darkness. No matter how hard he tried, Adachi's screams never left his throat.

Everything soon became silent, only static noise emitting from his ears.

Adachi shot his eyes open, looking around the apartment quickly before realizing he was only dreaming. The TV was turned on to a static channel. Adachi leaned forward and turned it off before scratching his head. 3 times in a row, all nightmares or weird ass dreams.

_"Maybe I need to go see a shrink."_ He thought to himself as he got up carefully, heading over to his futon in the other room.


End file.
